Cobra 142gtl

[kaos513]

Hello im a long time Cb radio hobbyist i just got back to the game this year i recently bought a 142gtl from flea market this unit dosent recieve but transmit but from the looks of it used to have a frequency counter and was removed. any help would be appreciated.

 

[RatsoW8]

Sounds like it's probably been molested by the golden screwdriver so I'd toss it in the parts bin and look for a working radio. There are usually folks on this forum selling radios in great shape for reasonable prices. Otherwise yoiu could easily spend as much having someone repair the 142.

 

[kaos513]

i will post some pics so anyone here know exactly what part of the radio was worked on thanks

 

[kaos513]

They sold it to me with the original packing and its in very excellent shape why would i throw it out?

 

[357magnum]

Ratso could be right as I use to sell radios at a Flea Market . the freq counter might have been removed as it was worth more than the radio ( just my 2 cents ) If you want to tinker with it start looking on the board where the freq counter was installed might have been " yanked " out an damaged the board .:bdh:

 

[kaos513]

Well i will take a picture where the work was performed and share it here see if any experts can help thanks

 

[w9cll]

They sold it to me with the original packing and its in very excellent shape why would i throw it out?

The cost of repair/time involved might make it not worth the effort. You were sold a POS from the sound of it no matter what shape the outsides are in the internals are shot, gut the case and save what parts you can and then go from there. If you have the ability to fix this then have at it but I am still in the parts bin camp.

Years ago before I became a ham I bought a Cobra 139XLR at a ham fest. When I got home and powered it up I found the thing was shot, yeah I was pissed but I gutted it and used what I could and learned from my mistake. Oh by the way the seller swore up and down the radio "worked" like new... a new pile of crap.

 

[kaos513]

I have a unit for spare parts already maybe i can utilize it to fix this bad boy

 

[357magnum]

I'm tapped out , think I'll wait for experts .

Sent from my NB09 using Tapatalk

 

[RatsoW8]

They sold it to me with the original packing and its in very excellent shape why would i throw it out?

I never said to throw it out. I said I would toss it in the parts bin

 

[w9cll]

I have a unit for spare parts already maybe i can utilize it to fix this bad boy

Go for it and I hope you can get it working.

 

[Robb]

Hello im a long time Cb radio hobbyist i just got back to the game this year i recently bought a 142gtl from flea market this unit dosent recieve but transmit but from the looks of it used to have a frequency counter and was removed. any help would be appreciated.

The first thing to do is make sure the mic is wired correctly. If you used the stock mic with it and it has this problem; then some part in the radio has gone belly up. Could be a diode, transistor, bad solder joint, or just an old cap. Does the receive work in SSB mode? Or is it not working in all modes?

If you don't have the experience or the tools to work on a radio and troubleshoot it; then send it to a shop. If all that is wrong with it is the receive; they should be able to sort that out quickly enough. That old radio is worth keeping in working shape, since all of the new radios are all surface mount parts ('SMT') and aren't worth the time to fix - IMO . . .

 

[loosecannon]

gotta agree with Robb on this one.

IMO this radio is totally worth putting the money into to fix it up to like new condition, but thats ONLY because i would do all the work myself.

to use a car analogy that i use all the time, you shouldnt buy a 1957 chevy that needs to be restored unless you are a mechanic or a very rich guy.

so, are you a "mechanic"?

if not, i'll tell you that i just restored a 142GTL for someone, and with the mods he wanted done to it, the parts/ labor came to over 200 bucks, just to give you some perspective.

now, just so my post isnt completely unhelpful; if you determine that the problem is internal to the radio and not in the mic; start looking at the electrolytic capacitors associated with the receive. they are most likely all about to dry out and cause more issues.

 

[Robb]

Just re-capped an old 148 yesterday. I always check the caps afterwards. Usually all of the 10v rated caps are found to be waaaay out of tolerance. A couple of them had no capacitance at all - lol. Truth! Also typical of other radios I have re-capped.

So if it was my radio, didn't have the tools to do this kind of work: it is worth saving and I would send it off to a shop. But if I had the tools, I would replace all of the 10v rated caps with either 16, 25, 35, or 50v rated caps - first. After all; it is an old radio. IIRC, there should be close to a dozen 10v caps in it. Some of them are found in the receive too; I would start with those first. Even if that doesn't fix it, you did no foul. . . .

 

[kaos513]

Good news I got in contact with the seller good friend of mines he had installed a digi-scan ds-400 he sold it sepratly but managed to hold to manual which I have. looks like hopefully all I have to do is install a mb8719 pll chip which was pulled out based on the instructions in the manual and also by looking at the board which its missing.